Each morning on my phone I am treated to the time, date, weather and an “on this day” for my genealogy courtesy of a program called GedStar Pro for Android which includes GedStar Today. I see birthdays I may have forgotten and learn dates important in my family history.

I have used GedStar Pro for many years. It was first written for TMG, The Master Genealogist, which I used from the time it came out. After I switched to Legacy it became available for that program. It basically works off a GEDCOM file which is converted to a file that your Android device can read. Sorry Apple folks. Not for you.

Each morning I learn who was born, died and married on this date. No birthday, no matter how old, is forgotten. The patterns are sometimes interesting.

The main program also puts your genealogy on your device under GedStar Pro. This shows a person view, a family view, an ancestor view and a descendant view. Way back when, before smartphones and tablets, I had it on a Palm (remember those?). I pulled it out in the County Clerk’s Office to find whatever details they demanded to pull a file. Back then County Clerks were sometimes less than cooperative and flooding them with information was useful.

So, a birthday reminder along with your genealogy on your Android phone or tablet – great program, right? Did I mention that now it is FREE? You can find it here: